Support is requested for a coordinatied sequence of studies in (A) the relationship between firearms and the death rate from individual acts of violence, and (B) the impact of firearms control measures on rates of violence. The studies under both of these major headings explore the relationship between individual acts of violence, cultural factors, and instrumental means. The sequence of studies proposed includes analysis of the dynamics of robbery killings, furthur research on gun availability and use in non- felony killings, the drawing together of existing research into a comprehensive statement on the relationship between firearms and violence, and the evaluation of the impact of countermeasures on gun violence. The primary data used in most of the analyses are samples of police reports on individual acts of violence and reported crime statistics. A variety of nonexperimental statistics techniques, ranging from quasi- experimental interrupted time series analyses to simple comparisons between fatal and non-fatal violent acts will be used. The methods and topics covered in the present proposal build on a series of studies conducted at the Center for Studies in Criminal Justice over the past eight years. The research program outlined is an attempt to round out the previous work into a rigorous empirical statement of the role of instrumentalities in determining rates of homicide and to produce empirical measurements of gun control policies.